1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technical field of an apparatus that performs processing such as image printing onto a continuous sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,831 discusses an ink jet printing apparatus that uses a roll sheet and includes a cutter for cutting the sheet after printed and a heating and fixing unit for accelerating a drying time. A speed at which the printed sheet is discharged from a printing unit is larger than a sheet conveyance speed through the heating and fixing unit. Therefore, a loop forming unit in which the sheet is temporarily stored in a form of an unstrained loop between the printing unit and the heating and fixing unit is provided in order to absorb a conveyance speed difference therebetween.
However, the ink jet printing apparatus with the loop forming unit as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,831 uses a large space for the purpose of securing a path for forming the loop, and therefore, there is a limit in pursuing downsizing of the apparatus. In the apparatus discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,831, it is provided that the roll sheet has a sufficient flexibility to the extent that the roll sheet can bend and hang down like a loop under its own weight. More specifically, the apparatus discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,831 is not suitable for a type of sheet that is relatively rigid and hard to be bent (e.g., a photographic sheet made of thick paper).